I’m so thankful for each of you and I thought of you as I wrote the prayer above.

Pray –This week leave a comment about a woman you thank God for in your life. Share – When you leave a comment, you’ll enter her to win this God’s Heart for You necklace by DaySpring! This is until midnight on Monday only. That way we can ship it for Mother’s Day next Sunday!

I’d like to pass along a much briefer version to you as well (some of it is adapted from Rain on Me and some is new).

First, A Different Kind of Hope says, “It’s okay to not be okay.”

This time of year the word “hope” is everywhere—decorations, in songs, in church. It’s often talked about like a fluffy, nice feeling. That kind of hope is a nice thought but it just doesn’t cut it for me a lot of the time.

I’ve realized Christmas is about both heartache and joy. The manger led to the cross. As I thought about this recently it has brought me back to one of the first things I learned on this journey, “It’s okay to not be okay”—and that’s even true at the holidays!

Before my storm I’d been one of those people who always said, “I’m fine” when anyone asked. But I got to a place where that was no longer an option. I remember worrying what people would think or how God would feel. But the response I got was the last one I’d ever expect—love and grace. And that’s what God offers you too.

One of the things that kept me from admitting I wasn’t okay is that I thought I had to be perfect or whole to be used by God. I’ve realized in His Kingdom the opposite is actually true.

A verse we often hear close to Christmas is the one in Isaiah that says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our sins, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed.”

I was listening to a song with that verse in it one day as I drove home from work several years ago. I asked God, “How can you use me when I feel so broken?”

As I listened I realized that it was in His brokenness that Jesus brought healing to us. We think that we have to take what’s broken and make it perfect again. God thinks in an entirely different way—He took what was perfect (His Son) and through His brokenness brought us healing. Because of this, our brokenness can bring healing to others too. And in the process, it can also heal us.

For each post in this series I’ll be giving away a Hope and Encouragement card pack from DaySpring so you can help some hurting hearts. It includes 10 cards (I wrote some of them) and would be worth over $30 if you got them at a store. I’ll announce all the winners when the series is done. Just leave a comment on any of the posts—or on more than one for extra entries!

(Subscribers, remember to go to the post to leave your comment. Thanks!)

*This giveaway is done but you can enter a new one and join me in The Rest of Your Story series by clicking here!

Congratulations to Dawn for winning the Christmas set giveaway! If you still want the set or anything else I’ve talked about in this series you can find it on DaySpring.com and get 20% off with my friends and family code. (holley20)

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And now for the rest of the story…

For several years I spent most of my time at DaySpring on cards and gift items.

I also got to be editorial director for Blessings Unlimited, a direct-to-consumer division of DaySpring (think Pampered Chef or Mary Kay).

We’d meet as a team to brainstorm, pray, and ask God for new creative ideas. He always answered and this beautiful catalog is an example.

Then a year or so ago God began nudging my heart in new directions. At first I didn’t know what it meant. I just had a vague sense that I wanted to be closer to something, someone. And then one day I realized it was YOU.

As I explored the social media world more, a dream began forming in my heart for a community of women online that was about every part of us—spiritual, emotional, social, and even practical! I began talking about this possibility with other women and found they shared this dream too. In particular, my coworkers Stephanie and Lainie also felt a passion for a new way to build a relationship with you.

Over the next year we spent hours talking about what this meant, praying about what God had in store, and moving in that direction without even knowing where we were going exactly.

All of that eventually became a new site called (in)courage. I hope you’ll take a moment to read the whole story here.

(in)courage was never a corporate initiative. It was a calling.

And it has become an amazing God-sized adventure that has knocked my socks off.

(in)courage has convinced me that God can and does do the impossible.

Come closer, and I’ll whisper to you why that’s true. In less than three months, we’ve had well over 100,000 unique visitors to the site from almost 170 countries. Our page views are on track to hit half a million this week.

And, y’all, I just don’t think that happens without Jesus.

We have a team of almost thirty amazing women who write and create products for the site. They are the heart of what we do and I’m honored to know and work with each of them. You can get to know them here.

That’s the latest chapter in my God-story with DaySpring. I’m so thankful that you let me share all of it with you. If you take anything away from it I pray it’s this…

If God can use me then He can (and does) use you. And there is nothing that can get in the way of His plans. It doesn’t matter what anyone says—not a publisher, not people, not the pulpit—God is the author of your story and He gets to write the ending. Period. There is no mistake too great, no weakness too big for Him to overcome, no obstacle too complicated for Him to get around.

Find out what He created you to do and then do it. You + God are unstoppable.

I wrote this piece for Blessings Unlimited and I’d like to close this series with it because it expresses my heart for you…

You are a woman of strength—more than a conqueror,able to do all things,a warrior and princessin the Kingdom of God.You are called to fight,to minister, to pray,to change the world.The Lord has given you all you needand made you all you need to befor victory. So go forth, strong sister,With a smile on your face,a heart full of hope,and a determinationto never stop untilyou receive every blessing God has for you.

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.PHILIPPIANS 4:13 NIV